Truman Bethurum (1898-1969).
documentedsource_actorContactee & UFO Religion
California maintenance mechanic and early contactee; author of Aboard a Flying Saucer (1954) describing Captain Aura Rhanes of planet Clarion. A documented Giant Rock regular; the contact is dismissed by investigators.
[DOCUMENTED] Real person; published Aboard a Flying Saucer (1954, DeVorss) and later titles; founded the Sanctuary of Thought (near Prescott, AZ) on solicited donations; a regular at Giant Rock and other conventions; endorsed by Adamski (whom he visited in 1953). [CLAIM] Said that while doing night roadwork near Mormon Mesa, NV, 'Latin'-appearing crew took him aboard 'The Admiral's Scow', captained by the beautiful Aura Rhanes from the war-free planet Clarion - allegedly hidden behind the Moon (a claim he revised when shown it was astronomically impossible). [DOCUMENTED] James Moseley judged him a liar; he refused polygraph tests; the contactee Dorothy Martin later borrowed 'Clarion'. A 1957 chronicle (Flying Saucer Pilgrimage) nonetheless found him sincere.